Meraki
by Corie101
Summary: Meraki- (v) to do something with soul, creativity or love; when you leave a piece of yourself in your work. Who knew one blond kid with a big vocab and an obsession with sunflowers would literally change the the fate of the earth? Cause I sure didn't, and now Ninten and I are in quite a mess. 'Chosen Four' my butt. AU. Ness POV
1. Ephemeral

**Ephemeral**

 _(adj) lasting for a short time_

There is nothing better then summer. With the fresh sense of freedom from the hellhole the adults call highschool, nothing could be worse then school. Except, however, when summer speeds by and the glorious, responsibility free days come to an end with the shrill ringing of an alarm, and your lamp attacking you.

Well, that's what Ninten says, and that's how on the first day of Grade 10 I had my hysterical best friend practically sobbing on my front doorstep.

"Dude, it's four in the morning." I said, quite deadpanned. I was in my boxers, with a bedrobe thrown over me. It was still scorching in the day, but during the night it may as well have been December. Onett had really weird weather.

"Ness, you gotta believe me!" Ninten pleaded. He was wearing a pair of striped, button up cotton PJ's, a true testament of his inner cleanliness, despite the cool kid act he had going on in public. I sighed. I was a bit surprised Tracy hadn't woken up. She was going into Grade 8, and had a hysterical break down last night, not unlike the one my unofficial doppelgänger was having now.

"Maybe one of your sisters threw it at you?" I suggested. Minnie and Mimmie wheren't those type of girls, but I really wanted to calm him down so I could go to bed.

"No, they woke up when they heard me shout." Ninten said, and began to bounce from one foot to the other. It was then I realized he had no shoes on. This loser had run two kilometres from his house to mine, just to complain. That took dedication, even I knew that. I sighed.

"Get inside dumbo, you can sleep at my house, since yours needs an exorcism."

Ninten thanked me, and walked inside. He immediately dug through our linen closet, dragging his favourite blanket from it. He had claimed it as his own when he first slept over, in Grade 4. He said it was the warmest, but I know he liked it because it had Mickey Mouse on it. I began to climb the stairs back to my room.

"Ness?" I paused.

"What do you want now?" I asked, grumpiness slipping through my tone.

"My lamp really did attack me."

Instead of responding, I shut the hall light off, and climbed back into my warm bed. Lamps attacking? Ha, as if.

-.-.-

Ah, highschool. Nothing better then Grade 8's nervously making their way down halls (or acting as if they owned the world), Grade 9's starting drama before the first bell rang, Grade 10's either passionately making out or being disgusted by such a display, and Grade 11&12's freaking out about how their highschool days were almost over, or just being too chill to care.

And then there were the teachers.

"Ness! You are late!" I rolled my eyes. Yay. First day of school, I had been slightly distracted by Paula (who is super hot, and super single, may I mention) and walked into class two minutes late after some serious flirting. English was a subject I passionately hated. Mr. McBond didn't make it any better. Ninten raised an eyebrow as I flung my worn, brown backpack onto the desk beside him. He had gone home early in the morning so his mom wouldn't figure out he'd left.

"Yeah, sorry, I didn't want to come." I replied, to tired to care. Unlike Ninten, who was seemingly perfect with his backwards baseball cap and leather jacket, I was exhausted. Mr. McBond scowled.

"Sit beside Lucas, I don't want any of your shenanigans. It's the first day of school." Mr. McBond pointed towards the back of the class, and I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, your right, it is. So why can't you give Ninten and I a chance?"

"Because it will be a repeat of last year." I sighed and grabbed my backpack. My english teacher wasn't wrong, it would be a repeat of Grade 9, but it was always worth a shot. I brushed some of my black hair from my purple eyes.

"Meet you in the corner at break?" Ninten said, deciding to speak up. I stretched, feeling my back pop in several different places. Ninten and I looked alike, except he had burning blue eyes.

"Nah, gotta catch up with Paula." I said, and Mr. McBond cleared his throat, expecting me to go faster. I glared, and finally moved from my spot.

Wasting time is my middle name. I shuffled from the front of the class to the back, high fiving Fuel, greeting Jeff (who was not liking the attention, poor kid) and sending a flirty look to one of the girls. Ana, I think her name was. She was pretty hot, but Paula was the only one I had my sights set on. Finally I sat beside the kid named Lucas. I had seen him in the halls before, but had never bothered to talk to him before. He seemed like a loner anyways, besides a red-haired kid he was constantly beside. He didn't look up as I tossed my backpack onto the desk next to him. Whatever was on his paper (an introductory sheet to the course, like one of the many we would get) was interesting the blond greatly. I didn't really care, but the doodles of sunflowers caught my eye.

"Hey." I said. Lucas looked up, his eyebrow raised. I vaugely wondered how he styled his hair in the duck-tail shape without it being coated in gel. He looked down at his sunflower covered paper, continuing to sketch, and I looked towards the front of the class. Wow, this would be an enjoyable semester. Sense the sarcasm? Because it's there.

-.-.-

Ah, art class. Where goths, anime freaks and british actor obsessed girls meet. I actually didn't mind art, but I wanted to scream. Usually I had Paula or Ana join me, but instead I had Mr. Duck Head here with me. I glared at Lucas's paper. Different class, same flower. I rolled my eyes. The art teacher began blabbing about how this wasn't an elective course, but a lifestyle. Whatever. I zoned out, watching Lucas draw sunflowers. A couple of minutes later he began writing something.

 _You're being called on, idiot._

"Ness!" Oh, so I was. I snapped my head towards the teacher. He looked rather annoyed. "Can you answer my question?"

I blinked, and saw Lucas write down something else.

 _Say 'the colour wheel'_

I'd have to thank him later. Maybe Lucas wasn't that bad. "The colour wheel."

"We were talking about artists that inspire you. Stop staring at Lucas like he's your one true love, and pay attention." The class snickered.

Nevermind. Lucas was worse then I thought.

"You set me up!" I whispered angrily. Lucas shrugged. He still refused to say anything.

Lunch couldn't come fast enough, because I was ready to murder this kid. No wonder he had no friends.

-.-.-

"I can't believe it." I said, biting angrily into my sandwich. Paula munched on some leftover Chinese stir-fry, and Ninten dug sadly into his Kale salad. Ana sat down beside Paula, pulling out her phone.

"Wow, you have two whole classes with Lucas." Paula said sarcastically. "Your life is terrible."

Ninten sighed sadly, picking at his salad. Wordlessly, Paula grabbed his container and switched it with her own. She actually enjoyed Kale, making her one of the stongest girls I know. Ninten looked like he was about to cry from joy, and eagerly dug into the greasy leftovers.

"He set me up in Art class with the wrong answer! He's so annoying!" I complained.

"He actually has the right idea to not get involved in any of your ideas, and we would've done the same." Ana asked, speaking up for the first time. Ninten snorted. There was a scream, and I assumed one of the girls in the cafeteria was subject to a tickle attack. It happened often enough that I didn't give it a second thought.

"Shut up Ninten." I said, stealing a mini-corn from his stir-fry. I spotted Lucas walking by, accompanied by the ginger I was talking about earlier. They looked a lot alike, maybe they were brothers? "Hey there's Lucas, glare at him with me."

"Oh grow up," Paula said. Ninten hastily shoved the last of the stir-fry into his mouth and stood to throw out the container. "Has he done anything else to you?"

I opened my mouth to speak, closed it, thinking, and then opened it again before settling into defeat, and taking another bite of my sandwich. Paula smirked, and smugly took a bite of her kale salad. Ugh, it's frustrating how pretty she was. There was a loud crash, more screaming, and a yell from Ninten. He fell into the table, slumping, a chair clattering onto the ground behind him. Our group finally turned around and I wish I hadn't.

The tables and chairs in the cafeteria were floating, and looking ready to hurtle at us. Ninten stood, clutching his head.

"Ow... My head..." He turned, and jumped, pointing wildly. "I told you! I told you my lamp attacked me! Now look, other inanimate objects have come to finish me off!"

"Okay," I said, in disbelief. "I believe you."

"Wait, you lamp _attacked_ you?" Ana asked, and I grabbed my base ball bat. A chair whipped forwards, and I got ready to swing.

"DUCK!" I yelled. Everyone followed my command, and I hit the chair with a satisfying crunch.

 **SMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASH!**

The chair went flying into bits. Woah. I didn't know I had it in me. Two tables came flying towards us, and I readied my bat again. I was shoved down by Ana and Paula who stood side my side.

"What are you doing?!" I shouted. The girls ignored me, and suddenly shouted in unison.

"PK FIRE ALPHA!"

The tables exploded into flames and came crashing down. The girls highfived.

"I can't believe that worked!" Ana said cheerfully.

"Our secret is out, however." Paula said, glancing at me. "I'm out of PP. You?"

"Yeah. I usually use omega or the beta version."

Questions burned into my mind. What was PP? How in the world could these girls set stuff on fire _with there mind_? Ninten looked at me, just as confused.

"Don't tell me you can do that."

"Nope. But it makes girl much hotter, wouldn't you agree?" I gave him a grin, and Ninten groaned.

"Do me a favour and shut up. We don't need your puns now." Ana pulled me up, Paula helping Ninten. I grabbed my baseball bat (it had clattered from my hands when the girls shoved me down) and looked at the hovering mess of tables, cafeteria food and chairs, all suddenly very life threating. Well, the cafeteria food was always life threating, but that's besides the point.

"I think we should probably move, since, you know, apparently blowing up stuff _with our minds_ isn't an option _anymore_." I said, stressing out parts of my sentance.

"Uh, sorry Ness." Paula said, flashing me an innocent smile. As cute as she was, I was fuming.

"No kidding." I was kind of jealous of Paula, but mostly annoyed at myself. We've been friends since we were ten- how couldn't I have noticed she could blow stuff up with her mind? Paula's face fell, and and angry scowl graced her features.

"Uh, guys?" Ninten said, tugging my sleeve.

"Oh _,"_ Paula snapped. "Is that how it's gonna be? I just saved your life, and you're mad that I didn't tell you something that I never wanted anyone to find out about?"

"You told Ana!" I was fuming, and I saw Paula ball up her fists.

"I know your both mad, but we kinda have-"

"She discoved her powers with me!" Paula spoke over Ninten, and Ana walked inbetween us.

"Hey, what are you-" With two fluid movements, she slapped both Paula and I across the face.

"We have more important matters at hand." Ana stated matter-of-factly. Paula nodded.

"You're right Ana, thank you." Did she just thank Ana for _slapping_ her? As if this day could get any worse.

"GET DOWN!" Ninten screamed, but it was to late. The various pieces of furniture came hurtling towards us. We all flinched, and braced ourselves for the incoming pain, but it never came.

" **PK LOVE!** "

Bright light filled my vision, and two forms came into view. My mouth dropped open as the dust settled.

"What the..." Ninten whispered.

Lucas and his red-head companion stood before us, arms still in position from their attack. Suddenly the blond, who had done _nothing_ but be mean to me, turned and grabbed my wrist.

"If you want to live, run with me."

I don't know why, but I followed, trusting him.

And so did everyone else.

-.-.-.

 ** _To be continued..._**


	2. Mellifluous

**Mellifluous**

 _(Ad) A sound that is sweet and smooth, pleasing to hear_

When Lucas had grabbed my hand and told me to run, that's what I did. It had seemed right, seeing how we had just been attacked by floating furniture. Everyone followed, even Ninten, who despised running because of his asthma. The ginger had grabbed the girls, and they tagged along, even though they could protect themselves. We followed Lucas, who never seemed to tire, past the school boundries and deep into the forest that had lined the town. It seemed like hours passed, but in reality only a couple minutes.

"Guys?" Paula broke the silence, and Lucas slowed his pace to a jog. "If we don't stop, Ninten might pass out."

That stopped Lucas in his tracks. The ginger- I still didn't know his name- crashed into me.

"Why'd we stop, Lucas?" He asked, ignoring me. Ninten hastily reached for his backpack, gasping and sputtering for breath. Ana rubbed his back, and Paula whispered soothing words. He hadn't suffered a bad attack in a long time, but anxiety flared his asthma.

"Because Ninten is currently choking to death. C'mon Claus, we can stop for a couple of minutes before moving again." I looked between two, deciding if I should speak up.

"If those Starmen come after us, we're dead meat. Lucas, we can't risk it anymore." Claus snarled, seeming annoyed. Lucas gave him a small smile and Ninten finally managed to grab his puffer.

"Wait, your name is Claus? As in Santa Claus?" Whoops, that wasn't supposed to blurt out. Lucas and his brother both shot me a look. Lucas was rather amused, but Claus looked furious.

"We should've left him for the Starmen." I felt the anger roll off Claus in waves. I had come to the conclusion he was a very angry person. Kind of reminded me of Ninten's uncle, Giygas. I'd only met him once but oh _boy_ was he an angry guy.

"Wait," We all turned around to see Ninten popping his puffer away, look much better. "What's a Starman?"

"I'll explain later. Right now, we have to meep moving." Lucas's voice was soothing, and we all began to run again, following the angry ginger this time. Time meant nothing as our feet pounded against the ground in an unbroken rhythm. We took frequent breaks, making sure Ninten didn't pass out. It was on the third short break that I noticed Lucas seemed very tense and pale.

"Okay," I said, walking up to him. "Can you tell me whats going on here? You've made Ninten run more then he has his entire life, and you look almost as pale as he does, without breaking a sweat. Explain why we're running, and why floating furniture tried to kill us." Lucas grimanced, and sighed.

"I suppose you do deserve a explanation." He took a deep breath, and I sat down on a nearby log, figuring this would be a really long story. Suddenly Claus clamped his hand over Lucas's mouth. I noticed he was wearing gloves. As if these people could get any weirder.

"We're close Lucas," The ginger whispered. And Lucas rolled his eyes, and Claus removed his hand. "We can tell them once we're on the ship. The Starmen might've followed."

"Yes!" A sudden shout of joy caused us all to jump. Paula and Ana were gleefully looking at a purple butterfly that had rested on Palua's hand.

"Shh!" Claus said. "They could be listening!"

Ana's mouth matched the letter 'O' and she rubbed her head sheepishly. Paula looked thoughtful before snapping her fingers, the butterfly floating away in the breeze. It was relaxing to watch it.

"Can I set up a mental link?" She asked. I noticed she had tear tracks on her face, but I didn't mention it.

Lucas and Claus exchanged glances, and then nodded. I had a sudden suspicion that they were telepathically communicating already.

"Okay, Ness? Ninten? You might want to sit down, the first time is the worst." Paula said.

"No problem." Ninten said, and I snorted. He was flopped on the ground, making sure that he didn't use any strength. I strode to stand beside him, and raised a curious eyebrow.

"Want to know what else hurts the first time?" I asked. Paula rolled her eyes.

"Sit down, Ness." Paula said, unimpressed.

"I think I can handle it." I smiled smugly. I'm not giving up a chance to impress her. Lucas looked concerned.

"You should really sit down Ness." He said. Claus scoffed.

"Nah, let him learn." Claus said. A pulled a small pack of tissues from his leather jacket. Who wears gloves in early September? I ignored the gloves and took the tissues. "You'll need these."

"What?" I said, genuinely confused. Ninten sat up.

"Why would he need tissues?"

"Okay, establishing the link... _now."_

Oh, that's what they ment. A blinding pain shot through my head, and I gasped. My vision went white, and my knees gave out from under me I dropped the packet of tissues. I swear I went unconscious for a moment, because I opened my eyes to see Paula right in my face. She hadn't been there before, and neither had the searing headache.

' _He's okay.'_ Woah, that was trippy. Paula's voice was inside my head, like she was speaking, except her mouth never moved.

' _How's Ninten?'_ Lucas was standing a couple of meters away, but he sounded very close.

' _He's out cold.'_ Ana frowned, hovering over my BFF. ' _The stress from asthma and running was pushing him over, but I think this was the icing on the cake.'_

 _'Great.'_ I could tell Claus was rolling his eyes. ' _Just what we needed.'_

 _'Claus!'_ Lucas scorned, and he smacked his brother.

' _I'm just stating the facts here!'_

 _'Yeah, this is trippy.'_ Communicating through telepathy was messing with my head.

' _That's what I thought too, when Ana and I did this for the first time.'_ Paula said, and handed me the tissues. ' _You need these.'_

If the symbol '?' could make a sound, I just made it. Paula tapped under her nose, and my hand flew up to my face. I had a massive nose bleed. I caught Lucas pale from the corner of my eye, and I hastily opened the package.

' _I gave those to you for when you cried, but I suppose they'll work for that too.'_ Claus said, his voice sounding slightly amused. I glared, and stood. A sudden rush of lightheadness hit me, and I stumbled, landing back on my knees. A nasty curse slipped my mouth, the word breaking the physical silence. Ana glared.

"Ness!" She said, forgetting about the mental link. "Watch your mouth!"

"Sorry." I said, and stood up slower this time. Claus rolled his eyes.

' _Okay smart stuff,'_ He glared at Lucas. ' _What are we gonna do about him?'_

Lucas frowned when his brother gestured to the unconscious Ninten. A small crease formed on his forehead.

'... _We could carry him?'_ Claus rolled his eyes.

' _Be my guest, oh brother of mine.'_ Accompaniedby the sarcastic speech was an even more sarcastic bow. Lucas sighed.

' _Claus, you know I'm not physically strong enough to carry him. Besides, you're the older twin.'_

 _'Twins?!'_ I exclaimed. Everyone gave me a weird look.

' _Ness, please tell me you're joking.'_ Paula said, in slight disbelief.

' _I had no idea they were twins! Brothers, yes. Twins? No.'_

Silence filled my mind, along with the feeling of disbelief that pulsed off everyone except Ninten and I. Paula looked unempressed, and Claus' face matched. Ana's mouth was actually open, and Lucas was slightly amused. Or maybe that was just his default face. I scuffed my foot against the ground, suddenly finding interest in the dirt. This was embarrasing. Suddenly, laughter filled the air. All of us (including Claus) jumped, and Lucas clutched his stomach, doubling over in laughter.

"Oh! C-Claus! Did you hear that? He didn't know we were t-twins!"

Apperently to Lucas, this was the funniest thing. Tears poured down his face as laughed, and he ended up leaning on his brother to keep balance, slapping his twin's shoulder. Claus looked as confused as the rest of us.

I couldn't help but chuckle too. That was pretty stupid of me. Soon I was laughing alongside Lucas, and Ana and Paula couldn't stop the grins on their faces. With the exception of Ninten, who was knocked out cold, and Claus, who I'm pretty sure has never cracked a smile in his life, all of us were laughing our heads off. The stress of the day and constant tiredness had finally gotten to us. We stood, laughing, for a good five minutes before we got our wits together.

"Oh," Lucas said, wiping tears from the corner of his eyes. "Thanks Ness, I haven't laughed that hard in a while."

I gave him a grin. "That's my job. Class comedian, standing before you."

' _Guys, we're supposed to use the mental connection. I didn't make Ninten pass out for you to babble away our location."_ Paula said, wiping her pink dress down. I vaguely noticed it was like the one she used to wear when we were young, except much less girly and much more womanly. Did that even make sense?

' _Right, sorry.'_ Lucas said. ' _Alright, we're almost at the ship. Let's keep moving. Claus, can you..?'_ Lucas guestured to Ninten.

 _'Whatever. It's not like I'd making the girls carry him an option, and Ness is to weak.'_ Claus heaved Ninten onto his right shoulder, and began to jog off. I was shocked, and so was everyone else, except Lucas.

' _Wow.'_ Ana said. Paula nodded. I couldn't even be mad at his 're were fifteen, and Claus just heaved Ninten (who admittedly isn't that heavy) onto his shoulder and began to _run._

 _'Your brother is hardcore.'_ I said, turning to face Lucas. He nodded.

' _Yup. Okay,'_ He turned around so he could face all of us, and then took a deep breath, which was kinda pointless because we were mentally comunicating. ' _Once we get to the ship, I'll explain everything that needs to be explained, because we're in a really,_ really _big mess and I'm really sorry that you had to be dragged into it.'_

' _Wait, does the ship fly?'_ Paula questioned.

' _My parents are going to kill me.'_ Ana said, her voice monotone. Lucas just smiled, and we all began to run.

-.-.-

"Wow."

I haulted in my tracks, looking up at the ship that was our safe-haven. If I were asked to sum it up in one word, my word would be huge. It towered over us, the silver metal covered in vines and vegetation. To be honest, it looked like it had been sitting there for a good two hundred years. Trees wrapped around and through it, birds chirping away. Claus, who had been waiting for us, turned to open the door. He had remained in front of us the whole time, carrying Ninten without stopping. I'll admit it, Claus is really impressive.

"Yeah, that's what Claus and I thought too." Lucas said, flashing us a grin. "C'mon."

The inside of the ship was just as impressive. There were no lights, but the daylight behind us told me the entryway wasn't much of a room, but rather a really long hallway with many doors branching off. It was obnoxiously wide too. All six of us could stand shoulder to shoulder with room to spare. Claus stepped into the hallway, and a small pad lit up at his feet.

"Provide code and identity." A automated voice said coolily.

"Commander, code 2006420, followed by five prisoners." Claus said.

"Wait, prisoners?" Ana said angrily. Claus held up a gloved finger, shushing her.

"State names and condition of prisoners." The voice said.

"The names and conditions of the prisoners are as follows: Ana, bound. Paula, bound. Ness, bound. Lucas, bound. Ninten, unconscious and carried. All prisoners are allowed access to all medical rooms, cafeterias and sleeping quarters."

"Understood." A circle of light, much like the one Claus had at his feet lit around us. Paula jumped back, but Lucas grabbed her and pulled her back into her circle.

"You don't want to do that." Lucas said softly.

"Prisoner 19942 attempted escape. Punishment is offered." The automated voice said. Paula's circle glowed red, and she looked panicked. Lucas grabbed her hand, and rubbed it, offering comfort. It seemed go work, and I turned away from the scene. Lucas would do that with everyone, right?

"Punishment overide, prisoner is contained. Also, get Miss Marshmallow ready in medical room number 2." Claus seemed bored with the whole process.

"Understood. Welcome back Commander."

The hall suddenly blinked to life, lights perking up. The circles of light dissapeared, and the door slammed shut behind us. The hall wasn't as long as I thought it would be. It split sharply to the left and right after a couple meters. Claus gestured for us to follow, and strutted down the hall. He passed door after door, and once he reached the end of the hall, slid open the iron slab.

"Okay," Ana said, her voice filled with annoyance. "You're gonna explain why we're called prisoners right now."

"Because you don't have a Pigmask code, so the computer would've taken you as intuders and disintegrated you on the spot." Claus responded fluently. He layed Ninten down on one of the beds in the room. It was a rather large room with medical supplies stacked everywhere.

"Why do you have a code?" Paula asked. I saw Claus hesitate.

"Because when Lucas and I first broke in here, we had a book. We found the book just outside the ship, and followed the code. I suppose I look like the Commander because the computer agreed to it."

Lucas shifted uncomfortably beside me, and I picked up the lie immediately. I didn't comment, but glared with stoney silence at Claus. Ninten groaned, and we all raced to his side.

"Hey, Ninten! Wake up buddy!" I said, hoping it'd rouse him. Instead, he shivered, and a pained look came across his face. A bead of sweat dripped off his forehead. I could feel worry radiate off Ana and Paula, and I came to a sudden conclusion.

"Cut the mental link. If that's what pushed him overboard, then maybe getting rid of it will make him wake up."

"I forgot about the mental link." Lucas admitted. "It should work. Paula?"

Paula nodded, closed her eye, and took a deep breath. A weird feeling came across my mind, like it had been shocked into numbness. The feeling passed quickly, and I knew the link had been broken. I felt very alone and small. Ninten immediatly began to stir.

"It worked!" Ana said, releasing a breath she had been holding. He opened his eyes slowly, trying to get a hold of his surroundings.

"Good morning," I said. "Nice to see you, sleeping beauty." I said cheekily.

"It's so sweet that you think I'm pretty." Ninten said groggily. "Although I wasn't aware the door swung both ways, Ness."

Ah, Ninten. Suffering an asthma attack, floating furniture and being knocked unconscious hadn't dampered his sass at all.

"Oh whatever." I said, and Ninten sat up, holding his head with one hand.

"Wow," He said. "I feel like I was punched in the brain. Is that even possible? What even happened?"

"You were knocked silly by a mental link." Ana said. Ninten mused over this thought for a second.

"Ah, that's why..." He stopped his sentence, and looked at Claus and Lucas. His gaze shifted from the blond twin to the ginger.

"I know you!" Ninten pointed to Claus.

"Well you should, I just carried you five kilometres."

"No no no." Ninten said, shaking his head. "I've seen you in my history textbooks! You're the guy who ran Porkey's army! You're the Commander!"

Silence filled the room. Ninten was very serious about his history. It was his favourite subject. Ana, Palua and I all turned and faced Claus. Ninten wasn't wrong, Claus looked very much like the Commander who ran King Porkey's infamous Pigmask army. But that war was long over. In fact, it was over two hundred years ago. There was no way the Commander could've been alive, especially since he commited suicide at the last needle. Now that I think about it, the Commander had been twins with the kid who was trying to stop him.

"I think you're running a fever." Lucas said softly, and placed his hand against Ninten's forehead. My doppelgänger flinched away from Lucas.

"I'm telling you Lucas, Claus is the Commander!" Ninten said. Claus looked rather uncomfortable. Lucas smiled.

"Ninten, Claus is my twin." Ninten but his lip, and I noticed he was rather oale and sweaty. "We've been together all my life, I can guarantee the only army he's had control of is a toy one."

"I lost to Lucas anyways." Claus said stiffly, crossing his arms. "I wouldn't be a good Commander."

"Ness," Ninten turned to me, a desperate look in his eyes. "You believe me, right?"

I froze, not sure what to say. I was saved by the iron door slamming open, and a maid walking in with more medical supplies. On closer inspection, she was a robot.

"Ah, Miss Marshmallow." Claus said, and he seemed relieved at the interception. I caught Ana and Paula giving each other raised eyebrows.

"I've brought the medical supplies sir." She said, her monotone voice grinding against my ears.

"Good, scan the patient." Claus said. Miss Marshmallow did just that.

"Prisoner 19891 is suffering from a mild fever." She said. She turned to face me, and her souless red eyes glared into my own purple ones.

"Prisoner 19941 had suffered from a nosebleed, which has stopped on its own. Prisoner's right arm has recived muscle strain from swinging and hitting an unknown object. Prisoner 19893 and Prisoner 19942 have no injuries." She glared at Ana and Paula before turning back to Claus.

"Thank you Miss Marshmallow. You can leave." Claus said. He grabbed a facecloth from her mechanical arms and ran it under some cold water before forcing Ninten to lay down and placing it on his forehead. He went back to wet a second cloth, and wiled it along his face. Miss Marshmallow began to leave the room before freezing when she set her eyes on Lucas. I swore the flared red.

"Hey Claus?" Lucas asked, worry biting at his tone. "Did we ever fix Miss Marshmallow's programming?"

"Programming error 2006, target aquired. Target name: Lucas. Mission: Kill before any needles are pulled. Engage." Claus dropped his cloth just as Miss Marshmallow's dress ripped open to show many arms with various weapons on them aimed at Lucas.

"I'm out of PP!" Lucas screamed, grabbing a random metal bar off the floor and brandishing it in from of him. Paula and Ana screamed when Miss Marshmallow swung at Lucas. It was lucky Lucas was nimble, as he just barely dodged her drill. It grazed his back, and he grunted, tripping on the cloths she dropped. Crashing to the floor, Miss Marshmallow swung again.

"Override program!" Claus shouted. "Code 2006420! Dismiss all programming for personage 20061!" Miss Marshmallow froze for a moment, then spun widly, her killer arms jutting in all directions.

"Get down!" I shouted, and shoved the girls to the floor. Ninten bailed on his table, a giant pair of sissors stabbing where he had been.

"Override denied by orders of Master Porkey." Miss Marshmallow announced, and turned back to face Lucas, who was heaving himself off the floor. Claus sprinted across the room as Miss Marshmallow lowered her drill.

I was frozen in place, and watched as Claus threw himself in front of Lucas, right hand out to stop her drill. Paula covered her face.

 ** _Snap_**

My breath hitched as the drill went through Claus' arm, palm first. Lucas' eyes widened. Expecting a scream of pain and blood spirting everywhere, I was shocked to see his right arm shatter into nuts and bolts, wires flinging everywhere. With a quick swipe of his feet, Miss Marshmallow was forced the the floor. Claus flipped open a switch on her arm, and pressed a button. She shut down.

Paula peered through her fingers, ignoring the fact I was still ontop of her from shoving her and Ana to the ground.

Lucas stood calmly, and frowned. Claus matched his look, and using his left arm, removed his leather jacket. Ana gasped as she admired the mess of his mechanical arm. His upper forearm was intact, but downward was competley destroyed. Hitching up his sleeve, he turned to Lucas.

"Can you remove this from the port?" He asked. I watched in awe as Lucas calmly removed his brother's arm from his shoulder, the metal port remaining where his arm should've been.

"I knew it." Ninten said. Claus didn't say anything.

"Ninten, it's not like that." Lucas said. "Let me explain."

"Oh yes," I said, standing. "You're going to stop avoiding our questions, and tell us _everything."_ I snarled. I was furious. "You took us away from our home and families, brought us to the ship only to inform us we're prisoners, then a mechanical robot almost killed us in this so called safe haven."

Lucas' eye caught my intense glare, and his eyes flicked downwards, knowing I'd won.

"Ask away" He said.

"Okay, I'll go first." Ninten's head popped up over the overturned bed. "Who exactly are you two?"

Lucas and Claus looked at each other, before Claus spoke.

"I am exactly who you said I was. I'm the Commander."

 **-.-.-**

 **If you're wondering about their ID numbers, Claus' is 2006-4-20, the date his game came out. The rest are just the year their games came out and the order you meet them in. For example, Paula's is 1994-2 because she is (technically) the second person in the party. Don't worry, the whole 200 year old twins will be explained soon :)**


	3. Basorexia

Basorexia

(n.) The overwhelming desire to kiss

_._._

"Okay, I'll go first." Ninten's head popped up over the overturned bed. "Who exactly are you two?"

Lucas and Claus looked at each other, before Claus spoke.

"I am exactly who you said I was. I'm the Commander."

Somehow, I wasn't as surprised as I felt I should be. Silence filled the room anyway, and I didn't want to break it. Ninten, however, was very pleased to do that.

"I told you so." He said haughtily. "None of you believed me."

"To be fair, Ninten," Ana said after a cautious moment. "You have a fever, and Claus being the commander would mean he's over two hundred years old."

Paula nodded quickly beside her friend, standing and wiping off her dress. "Yeah, Ana's right. How can you be the Commander?"

"Age blockers." Claus put simply, and the port where his arm once was sparked. I shivered, staring at it. I noticed Lucas giving me a worried glance. The kid was a dick in public and an absolute sweetheart in private. Wait, when did he become a sweetheart?

"Age blockers?" Paula asked.

"Pig Mask design, tested it on me. Obviously, it worked." Claus said sharply. "I have to go replace my arm. Lucas, come with me."

"We can't leave them alone," Lucas said, his voice hushed. "The whole reason we brought them here was to protect them from Starmen."

"What are Starmen?" I asked.

Everyone ignored me, and Ninten pushed himself up from behind the table, stumbling slightly. I reached out to support him (he wasn't looking to hot) but Lucas had miraculously made it to his side before I had. An unexplainable anger filled my gut. I take back my sweetheart statement. Lucas just had to be there whenever I was going to be. Claus gave me a weird look, but I didn't notice it as I watched Ninten to struggle to stand on his own. Pushing away the envy, I looped my arm around Ninten's back, helping Lucas support him.

He was really hot and sweaty and gross. I bit my lip, and began to untie the weird bandana he wore. Not that I was to judge, I do carry around a baseball bat.

"What're you doing?" Ninten asked, his voice quiet.

"Getting all these dumb layers off you," I replied. "You have a fever, remember?"

"That diagnose came from a robot who tried to kill us." Ninten complained, trying to re-tie the bandana. Lucas smacked Ninten's hand away from mine.

"Doesn't mean- What was the robot's name again?"

"Miss Marshmellow." Claus supplied, rubbing his shoulder with a scowl. The wires and cords were sparking more violently now, and oil was dripping onto the ground in a slow pattern, the drip like a heartbeat.

"Doesn't mean Miss Marshmellow is wrong." I concluded.

"Who named a robot Miss Marshmellow? " I heard Paula ask to Ana. Ana shrugged, and Ninten grunted.

"Whatever," Ninten hissed. "I can stand on my own."

I opened my mouth to respond that no, in fact, he couldn't stand on his own, when Claus piped up in his annoyed tone of voice.

"Lucas, let's go replace my arm. We'll be ten minutes at most and the ship has a defense system. We'll move them to a new medical room."

"Claus!" Lucas snapped, then softened his voice, an exhausted look on his face. "We can't leave them alone! Take Ness with you while I stay behind and help the girls. Ninten's fever is getting worse."

Ninten made a weak noise of protest, and the twins shared a knowing look, and Claus turned angerly away, going to cross his arms before realizing he only had one to show attitude with. He settled with flipping off his brother, and Ana let out a horried gasp. Bless her religous, innocent heart.

"I don't like this." The ginger snarled.

"Do I get a say in this?" To be honest, I didn't really want to be stuck with Mr Ginger Sociopath here, especially if I have to physically put his arm into his socket. Ew.

"No," Lucas said simply. "But thanks for helping my highly ungrateful brother." He shot a smile at me, and I scowled back., my fave mirroring the so called 'Commander'.

"Fine," Claus grabbed me with his good hand, and dragged me out of the room, mumbling to himself. I was still holding Ninten's bandana, so I shoved the red fabric in my pocket, reminding myself to return it when he's feeling better.

"Where are we going?" I asked. Claus was turning at random intervals, and I was very lost. The entire ship looked the same. Most of it was covered in plants that poked in through holes, the last of the sunlight allowing the harsh lights to fill the area.

"To the lab."

"The lab? They have a lab here?" I really should've payed more attention in socials.

"Wow," Claus said, sarcasm dripping from every single syllable of his sentance. "It's almost like they had to update me because I'm part robot."

I scoffed. "Someone's salty."

Claus didn't respond, and flung open a door to our left. Shoving me roughly, I grunted when I hit the wall. Did he really shove me into a broom closet? How original. His flesh hand slammed right beside my head, and I jumped a bit. Didn't that hurt? Oh, that's right. He's the angsty Commander. Nothing hurts but his own saltiness. What a heartthrob.

"Listen," Claus said, taking in a deep breath. He was silhouetted by the fluorescent lights outside, and I could dimly see his face. His violently red eye (how could I not have noticed that?) glowed in the dark.

"It's not like I have much else of a choise, do I?" I snapped. This was getting annoying real fast.

"Shut up!" Gritting his teeth, Claus continued. "If it was up to me, I would've let the Starmen kill you back at the school."

I couldn't tell at all that's what he wanted.

"But I can't. We've been theough this routine a hundred times before, and we'll go through it a hundred times again." The sense of familiarity I felt caught me offguard. Look at Claus I suddenly felt that he knew me, and we were close-not that I could remember. What a weird thought.

"Routine?" I asked, dropping the annoyance in my tone. Claus grumbled that he had said to much, and turned away, leaving the small broom closet. "Wait! What do you mean?"

"Nothing! It ment nothing!" Claus threw his hand up in the air, obviously exasperated. I matched my pace to his, and he refused to meet my eye. Staring straight ahead, Claus bit his lip. "Just... Just treat Lucas nicely, okay?"

This time, he met my eyes.

"He's been through a lot, and needs as much support as possible. It's gotten past the point where I can help. That's why we joined the public school." He turned left, and I could see an end to the hallway we had been wandering for so long. "Lucas needed friends. He's not a lone wolf."

That's the most sincere I had heard Claus been. I'm also sure it's a one time deal. I nodded, absolutely speechless. We stopped at the end of the hallway, which happened to be a large, threatening door.

"Welcome to Hell." Claus swiped a keycard (where did he pull it out from?) and the doors opened.

A sense of dread filled me. Walls were filled with papers, screens and large motherboards, all flashing and beeping. A large cylinder of green liquid was shoved in the corner, bubbling occasionally. In the middle a table lay, with nauseating red splashes all over it. A cracked helmet lay attatched to many wires, and several mechanical arms lay next to it. Two were half assembled, but the others were finished. There were five in all, and Claus picked up one, tossing it to me.

"Hold this, I have to hook myself up to this machine make sure nothing goes wrong." Seeing my horrifed face, Claus rolled my eyes. "Not that anything awful has happened, it's just in case. Geez, you're such a baby."

"I'm not a baby!" I yelled, gripping the metal arm tightly.

I was tired, emotionally spent and tired of Claus' attitude. The entire day had been absolutely haywire, with my face covered in dry blood and hunger gouging my stomach. I wanted to go home, cuddle with my dog and pretend that everything was normal. I didn't want to put a metal arm on a 200 year old teenager, and I didn't want Paula and Ana to have lied to us about their PSI powers for who knows how many years. Hot water blurred my vision, and against everything I stood for, I began to cry. Worst part? It was in front of Claus.

"..." Claus said nothing, but grabbed a tissue from the pocket of his ruined jacket. With gentle movements, he placed it in my hand, and took away the metal arm. I said nothing, but hastily wiped at the salty tracks on my face.

"...Sorry." I said, after I gathered myself. "Can you not tell the girls?"

"It's fine." Claus said, and began to hook up the arm to his shoulder port. "I... I should've realized how tough this is for all of you. Especially since you don't-"

He hissed, effectively cutting off his sentance. A sharp piece of metal had sliced his finger.

"Oh!" I said. I had totally forgotten that I was supposed to help him. "Sorry. Let me take care of... This." I guestured to the mess of wires that was currently his right arm, stuffing the tissue in the same pocket as Ninten's bandana. Claus guestured to his arm, and I grabbed a random wire. Let the games begin.

"Alright." Claus said. "Attatch the blue wire- no, no not that one, it's to your left- yeah, that's the one. Attatch it to the purple wire- that's magenta, Ness. I need it attatched to the purple- oh, you connected it to the wrong one."

We both sighed. This would take a while.

_._._

"There! One new arm!"

After tightening the last screw in Claus' arm, he stood, nodding with a satisfactory look on his face. At some point in the last half an hour he had lost his shirt, as the wires had gone further back, and the fabric was constricting my reach to the port. Claus was absolutely ripped, and I glanced away to avoid blushing. Wait, blushing? First I call Lucas a sweetheart, then I'm blushing over Claus? I'm honestly a mess, Paula is obviously the cutest.

Testing his arm by stretching it and swinging it around, Claus transformed it into a cannon. I jumped at the sudden shifting of his arm. It was memorizing to watch the pieces meld and shift over each other to form the large cylinder where Claus' forearm used to be. He shifted it back so it looked like a normal hand (as much as it could be as it's made of metal) and pulled on his shirt.

"Thanks." Claus said. It seemed that his voice was just naturally annoyed. "I can pick up a new jacket later. Let's get going, Ninten needs medical attention. His fever had gotten worse, and Ana is freaking out over it."

"How do you know?" I asked, following him from the room.

"Lucas told me." We started through the maze of the ship, and I was stumbling to keep up with Claus' strides. This kid must be on steroids to walk with such long steps.

"How?" I demanded. Claus tapped his forehead, and I remember the mental connection that the group had breifly shared. The twins, unsurprisingly, must have another one between them.

The trip back seemed much shorter, and we reached the medical lab in about 5 minutes. The door slid open automatically, and we stepped inside.

Ana and Lucas where standing over Ninten, who was laying on the remaining bed that hadn't been destroyed by Miss Marshmellow. She was still crumpled on the floor. Paula was by the sink, dampening a cloth. Soft green light shone around Lucas and Ninten. He was muttering, and looked like death. He had never been healthy, but this was just awful. My heart clenched.

"Claus!" Lucas said, releaved. As he spoke, the weird green aura faded. That was trippy. "PK Healing isn't working."

"It isn't?" Ana squeaked. "You said it was!"

"I didn't know before," Lucas said gently. "But now I can guarantee now it's not doing anything. He's only gotten worse. Claus, can you scan him for what I think it is?"

Claus beside me nodded, and Ana looked almost as pale as Ninten. His baseball cap and leather jacket were dumped on the floor, and he was just in his skinny jeans and striped shirt. I walked over and held back his sweaty hair as Paula placed the cloth on his feverish head.

"Poor Ninten." I muttered. Paula nodded.

"I've never seen him this sick before, I hope he's alright." Paula said. Ninten muttered something about how the baby canary needed to be returned to its mom so he could have the melody, whatever that meant, and Claus and Lucas were staring at each other, having what I assumed was a mental conversation. Or Lucas just liked to make faces.

"Oh!" Lucas said out loud. He had a wide grin on his face.

"What is it?" Ana asked, concern filling her voice. I couldn't say I wasn't concerned either.

"He has PSI fever!" Lucas said cheerily. Why was he so happy? Him having a fever wasn't good news! However, Ana and Paula both gave a relieved sigh, and small smiles came over their faces.

"Oh, that's relieving." Paula said. "What do you think triggered it?"

Triggered what? I didn't understand what was going on and it made me really upset. I hated being left out of the loop.

"Probably the life threatening scenario and the introduction of PSI from the mental link." Claus said stiffly, and Ana sat down on the overturned bed. I clenched my fists.

Nothing they said made sense and no one had explained anything to me. How was Claus over two hundred years old, and why was my best friend suddenly getting psychic powers through a deathly fever? Whatever these Starmen where confused me, and why had they attacked us?

"Ness?" Lucas said. "You okay? You're bleeding."

My nails had punctured my palm, but I was to angry to notice.

"Am I okay?" I was acting irrationally, but I was feed up. "You tell me, Blondie! I was dragged away from school where I was being attacked, I found out my two friends have psychological powers, and you and your brother are over 200 years old! My best friend is currently dying from a fever so that he will have powers that'll make him a freak among society!"

"Ness!" Paula said, obviously shocked. "That's so rude!"

"I don't care!" I snapped, and immediatly regret filled my gut. Paula looked heartbroken. "...Sorry." I muttered.

"I think you need to sleep." Lucas said cautiously.

"What do you think I am," I said grumpily. "A preschooler?"

"Youre acting like one." I heard Claus mutter.

I was about to whip around and snap at him when Lucas stepped in front of me.

"PK Hypnosis!" Lucas' eyes seemed much more magnitizing then before, and I found myself drawn to them. A sudden wave of exhaustion wavered over me, and I realized what Lucas had done. Collapsing from exaustion and from the psychic attack, all I could think of was how much of a dick Lucas was, and how absolutely stunning his eyes where when using PSI.

What a way to end the first day of school.

_._._

 **I'm back from the dead. I will be working on this regularly now, but it will be slow as I'm super, super busy! I promised last chapter to explain why the twins are 200 years old, but I decided to drop some hints instead. ;p**

 **Also, there are pairings in this story I'm iffy on. I love all pairings, but Paula/Ana and Claus/Ness are my fav. This was originally going to be was Clausten story and Ness was either going to be with Paula or Lucas, but I can't decide. Send me a review on what pairing you'd like to see. Thanks!**


	4. Rubricate

**_Rubricate_**

 _(v.) to mark or colour with red_

_._._

Dark. It's dark here, and it's empty. I spot red flash in the corner of the void I'm in, and voices start.

Soft whispers filled the air, making no sense to my heavy head. After a few moments, I couldn't remember (or care) about what they were saying. I let the liquid sounds drown out the heaviness of my body.

 _"-why do they-"_

 _"-Ninten is-"_

 _"-when will-"_

 _"-so it was really true that-"_

 _"-do you love-"_

 _"-what about our parents, won't they-"_

 _"-why did you kill-"_

Voices molded into each other, feminine and masculine. They were a stinging, loud and sharp contrast to the dark. Was I even conscious? Probably not, and by the random conversation snippets I figured that I was wavering in and out of the conscious world. Red tainted my vision, but there was a soft murmuring and suddenly I found myself relaxing, although I wasn't aware I was tense before.

 _You'll do good, but you can't remember why. Poor Ness. Po...or, p...o...o...r... Ne...s...s_. _I'm... so... h...a..pp...y..._

Blackness was the only thing I sensed before any thoughts were washed out and replaced with unconsciousness.

_._._

Waking up, I was sore and groggy. Muscles screamed in discomfort as I shifted on the bed I was on. Great. Running for a solid day without stretching was an awful idea. Mind you, running away from a cafeteria attacking wasn't so amazing either. Mm, cafeteria food didn't sound so bad right about now. with that thought, I forced my eyes open and found it was obnoxiously dark, and not in the nice way it had been before. Letting out a soft groan, and I stumbled from the bed I was on, only to trip over a body.

"Oof!" I gasped, and hit the ground hard.

Ouch, that'd leave a bruise- not that I wasn't covered in them already. The person below me- Mr Duck head, judging by the violently yellow hair- awoke with a start, sparks of psychic energy flying around him from being surprised. I shoved myself off him as fast as possible. Seeing it was me, Lucas relaxed and the diamonds of energy faded away.

"Good morning," Lucas said, and stretched, his back cracking. Gross, I hate that sound. I meant to stay something amazingly witty back, but ended up making a crusty noise that caused me to cough. After clearing my throat and ignoring that amazingly embarrassing moment, I spoke.

"What time is it?" My voice cracked, and I felt my face burn. Great, more blackmail against me.

"Um," Lucas checked his watch, politely ignoring my voice. Thank goodness he's not as much of a dick as his brother. "Three AM."

"Nice." I muttered. I slept for a solid 12 hours. Or rather, I was knocked out. I sent a non-subtle glare at Lucas, who frowned, probably sensing why I was glaring.

"Don't look at me like that." Lucas said, standing and cracking his neck. I shuddered with the sound. How could he do that?

"It's dark, maybe I'm not looking at you." I snapped, aggravated with how early it was and Lucas' morning habits. Ana muttered something in her sleep and I lowered my voice.

"You are. I can sense your frustration peaking when you look in my direction." Lucas said, a cheerful tone making it's way into his voice.

Gosh, he pissed me off. Lucas thinks he's so great with his psychic powers and pretty hair and stunning eyes and- wait. Stop, back up. Was Ninten right about the door swinging both ways? I've only been attracted to girls but Lucas has somehow intruded my thoughts. I've had such a day that somehow suddenly questioning my sexuality doesn't shake me. Honestly? The most worrisome part was my liking of _Lucas,_ of all people. My mom wouldn't care if I was gay. As long as I made good choices; although, to be fair, being chased by whatever 'Starmen' are can't be safe. Sorry, mom.

"You okay?" I snapped out of my train of thought, resuming my halfhearted glare at Lucas. "You've been staring blankly at me for a bit now..."

"I'm fine! I'm just-" I paused, biting my lip. I wanted to snap at Lucas, because technically this was all his fault, and I was just pretty mad at him, but he sounded so concerned that I couldn't find the heart in me. "I'm just..."

"Just what?" Lucas said in a tender tone.

"I'm just confused, mostly. And- oh. What about my mom?" The sudden thought crashed against my skull. I was originally supposed to pick up Tracey- oh, I am in so much trouble when I get home- and Mom must be out of her mind. After dad left for work all the time, she clung onto us like lifelines. Not that she nor I could complain about the cheerfully large paychecks sent home.

"Ah..." Lucas scratched the back of his head. "Um, come into this room and we'll grab some food, and I'll show you what happened."

Passing sleeping figures (Paula and Ana were cuddling, Ninten still looked awful but had been changed into some cotton pajamas, and Claus was nowhere to be seen) I followed as best I could. Lucas closed the off the door to whatever sleeping area we had been in, and switched on the light. The lights were practically dead and really didn't offer us any relief from the dark. Lucas seemed to have been ready for this moment as he already had cookies out and ready. What a gift. They were Oreo's, Ninten's favourite.

Lucas placed the plate on the small table. I grabbed one of the hard, stiff chairs and immediately took a bite of one of the cookies. With my stomach growling and the cookies being obnoxiously good, I almost missed what Lucas had said.

"Your mom thinks you've been kidnapped." Lucas stated. I dropped my cookie in disbelief.

" _What._ "

"Uh," Lucas scratched his head, looking rather unsure of himself. " _Technically_ you have been kidnapped. The Starmen attacked the school, and the media thinks our group of six has been kidnapped by them because we were the only ones missing."

"Out of a school with seven hundred people in it, only us six were missing?" Oh Ness, of all the intellectual things to say at three in the morning to the boy who has ruined your life and yet still manages to be cute. Shout out to me.

Lucas looked a little shocked at the comment, then gave a small laugh, a genuine smile coming to his face.

"I know, right? What are the odds?"

"Just our luck, huh." I ended up cracking a grin too, giggling because _wow, am I exhausted_ and Lucas beamed at me, before his face fell again.

"Yeah, luck..." Shifting nervously, Lucas took a hesitantly small bite from his cookie. "Um, I suppose you deserve to know what is going on."

"Yeah," The grin on my face suddenly felt forced. "I kind of do."

Taking a big breath, Lucas began. My face fell about a sentence in, and I'm sure I began to pale as he continued to speak.

"Uh, let's start with Starmen. Starmen were made about two hundred years ago in this universe, and were used to find PSI users so that a mysterious force could brainwash them into an army. It wasn't Pigmasks who did this, because Claus was already, uh, being controlled by the Pigmasks, and he confirmed that they hadn't done it, and he knew everything that went on in that timeline. Plus in this history, Starmen didn't show up until all the world's were shoved together. They're actually from your original time period. Um, when this world was recreated-"

"Timelines? Worlds shoved together? _This world being recreated?_ " I hissed, trying to wrap my head around everything that Lucas had said. Lucas gave a sheepish smile.

"Haha, yeah. Recreated. Anyways, when the world was recreated after pulling the needles and awakening the Dark Dragon-"

" _The Dark Dragon?"_

"-That's when Starmen showed up. Only in the past decade have they really been acting up."

I stared at Lucas, who stared back, his eyebrows furrowing.

"What wrong?" He asked.

"Everything you just said went in one ear and out the other." I said. Nothing he had just said made sense, and it was much wilder then finding out he and Claus were two hundred years old. That was pretty wild.

"Lucas isn't the best at explaining."

Claus' voice made us both jump.

"Oh!" Lucas said. "You're awake."

"Never slept to begin with." Claus said cheerlessly. "Let me simplify this for your small head, Ness."

"You should look in a mirror sometime." I muttered, but let him continue, as I had no idea what was going on and my _best_ option was to not piss Claus off, even if I really, _really_ wanted to.

"First off, this planet never really existed. There were two dimensions. One where Lucas and I came from, and one where Ninten, Ana, Paula and you came from. Porky's army and the whole Dark Dragon deal _did_ happen, just in our dimension."

When he mentioned the Dragon he waved vaguely to Lucas, who gave a sheepish grin in my direction. He liked to smile, and he had a cute one, I thought, before yelling at myself mentally and focusing on Claus' monotone (and rather robotic) voice.

"Ninten and Ana are from a different time period then you. They saved the world from Giegue ten years before you saved it from Giygas, which is the same being."

"Hold up-" I knew I looked comically with my current facial expression, but Ninten? My neighbor since I was born had no such adventure, and seeing how he was unconscious in a table from fever it seemed unlikely he could survive an adventure like that. "We fought against Ninten's _uncle?_ "

"Yes." Claus said.

"Kind of?" Lucas said.

I groaned.

"Giegue was originally an alien- the great uncle Ninten has here is just a normal person- but it quickly mutated into an incomprehensible mess of pure evil, which called itself Giygas In your dimension. You fought that with Paula, Jeff and Poo ten years after Ninten, Ana and Lloid. had sent Giegue back into space. "

Ignoring my instincts to laugh at the name 'Poo', I had a feeling that what Claus was saying was very true, and it was stirring a nostalgic feeling in my chest. I hated the fact that Claus was probably right, and if he was, why couldn't _any of us remember?_ The events Claus were telling me seemed much to large and wickedly awesome to forget. It sounded like a video game plot.

"Porky, who was Giygas' right hand man, transported to our dimension-" Claus once again gestured to Lucas. "- after you defeated him. You know the rest from history books."

"History books don't mention a giant Dragon recreating the world, and _if_ we were, per say, in different dimensions, how do you know all this?" I sneered at Claus. A part of me was begging to accept this, and it was growing bigger by the minute, but I had my suspicions.

"I'm getting there," Claus sneered back. "Don't get your panties in a twist."

"When I pulled the needles," Lucas interrupted, while I tried not to strangle Claus, "When I pulled the needles, the Dragon revealed all this to me in a vision-like thing when it merged your dimension and mine. This whole worlds history and culture and land was mashed together and kind of formed together into this mess here. Then I telepathically transferred it to Claus, who, at this point, was alive again. Somewhere along the line, you six and everyone else in our worlds forgot _everything_."

"Everyone?" I asked.

"Our father injured himself falling off a cliff looking for our mother because he had forgotten she died." Claus said with a emotionless tone.

"Her grave doesn't exist anymore." Lucas added with a monotone voice, sounding detached and eerily like his brother.

Scratching my arm, I felt like a real big dick having them bring up a topic like that to make me believe what they said.

"I'm sorry," I said.

"It was a long time ago." Claus started, his fake eye readjusting by growing larger then shrinking to a pinprick.

"We've done our grieving. It doesn't bother us anymore." Lucas finished, his sweet tone dragging my gaze off Claus' eye to him.

"So," I started on a recap. "I was in a different world then yours, then our worlds were shoved together, and you've lived two hundredish years here before trouble started spewing. Everyone has forgotten everything except you two. And I saved the world along side Paula, the math nerd Jeff and a kid named Poo?"

"Pretty much." Claus said.

What a ridiculous story. And I completely believed it. The words the twins spoke rang some sort of truth, and the fact is, Claus' story (although carried as more of a threat) in the broom closet was starting to make more sense.

"Ah." I settled with that while I tried to mesh my thoughts together into a speakable sentence. "Um, do Ana and Paula know?"

Lucas nodded. "I think Ninten knows some of the history too. In his fever he's been muttering events that happened on his adventure, but we haven't told him yet."

"Will Ninten be okay?"

A nod from Claus and a sweet smile from Lucas calmed the pit of anxiety that was gnawing at my stomach. I released the breath I was holding, and grabbed another Oreo from the plate. Chewing on it thoughtfully, I decided on my next question.

"So," I swallowed my cookie, and grabbed another. "If our dimensions were separate, and then merged, and I had a life before this, why can't I remember it?"

Upon my question, a dark look came across Claus's face, and Lucas became pale, refusing to meet my eyes.

"We don't know." Claus said, stiffly crossing his arms.

"You're lying, you dick." I responded, and he jerked angrily when I called him out. Good, he deserves to be called out.

"We'll let you know when it's the right time." Lucas whispered, unable to tell a lie. He was shifting his gaze, avoiding me. Man, he could at least lie to my face. That pisses me off.

Slamming my hands on the table, I let a few choice words fly from my mouth (and I was rather glad Ana wasn't awake to hear them) that were directed at no one in particular, and Lucas winced.

"Don't be so aggressive," Claus snapped, his fists clenched.

"You're the one talking, mister 'I'm-going-to shove-you-into-a-broom-closet-and-threaten-you.'"

Lucas let out a sharp gasp, and I felt anger creeping up my sides. I was suddenly itching for a fight with Claus, not caring that he was built for fighting nor that he had two hundred years of experience over me.

"Are you wanting to fight, _Ness?_ " Claus snarled, and it felt good to make him pissed off.

"Maybe," I clenched my fists. I had never felt so aggressive in my life. A change had come and to be honest, I wasn't liking it.

Claus slammed me against the wall, Lucas crying out for his brother to stop while I smirked, and it all ended with Claus dropping me as Ninten's panicked, fever ridden cries reached our ears.

"We don't have time for this," Claus said, and he shoved me aside. I hit the wall with a grunt, my sore limbs screaming with the addition of another bruise, and Lucas looked horrified at his actions. Claus was being a dick, and I was ready to punch the emotionless mask off his face even if _technically_ I started the fight.

"I'm sorry," Lucas apologized, and I shrugged, keeping an ear out for Ninten.

"Whatever, it doesn't matter." I lied. It does matter. I'm pissed off. I want to go _home_.

Another short cry filled the room, and I started for the door, insane worry filling my gut. How could I start a fight while Ninten was sick? Lucas grabbed my wrist, jerking me to a halt. I glared, knowing that annoyance was leaking from every fiber of my posture.

"Dude, Ninten needs me." I said, trying to keep my voice level.

"I know! But, uh, I need to tell you something first."

"What is it?" I snapped. Gentle murmuring had filled the room I had been sleeping in, Ninten's whimpering clearly heard through the closed door.

"There's, uh, a high chance because Ninten is so sick that he might, um, not make it through the fever." Lucas looked at the ground, and I blanched.

"Not... make it?" I whispered, and I tore my hand from his, slamming open the door.

Paula and Ana were hushing my childhood friend, while Claus hooked him up to various machines. Paula looked up and smiled weakly. Ana was on the verge of tears, and had her head bowed in prayer.

"He's not doing so great." Paula muttered, and continued to sing softly to Ninten. Ana's muttering of prayer was intense, and I didn't want to break her concentration, so I found myself by Paula side.

Ninten was soaked in sweat. His face was flushed and looked as red as his bandanna. I brushed some sticky hair from his forehead, and he opened his glassy eyes, starting me down.

"N..ess?" Ninten croaked. I smiled encouragingly, my heart breaking. Lucas was right, and the thought tore at my gut that Ninten might actually _die._

"I'm right here you big dummy."

"I'm... So..r..ry..." Ninten gasped, while tears streamed down his face. I wiped them away, not sure what I was supposed to do. I sent Paula a hopeless look. "Giy...Giygas... he wasn't... wasn't supposed to come back..."

My mind drew a blank for a moment, before remembering what Lucas and Claus had explained. I let out a weak laugh.

"Dude," I forced a grin. "I can't remember what you're talking about, which means you didn't mess up as much as you think."

Ninten took a shuddering breath, and Claus sent an urgent look to Lucas, who was standing behind me with his head bowed and hands clasped.

"But... but he came back... and I messed every... everything up..." Ninten wheezed, looking confused. "I... made you die..."

My heart stopped, and Paula sent me a worried glance. _It's just his fever,_ I thought. _I'm not dead._

"I'm not dead, Ninten." I laughed nervously.

"Not... not here..." Ninten tapped my head. "In your... your soul..." He struggled to tap my chest, and let his arm flop uselessly after a moment. "I killed you."

"Ninten," I started, and then stopped because what was I supposed to say to that? 'It's okay, we were transported to another dimension so I can't remember'?

A long moan came from Ninten, his breathing choked. Ana's murmuring increased. Claus was still smashing buttons on the machine he had hooked Ninten up too. It looked alien, and way ahead of our time, even though it had been around for two hundred years.

"Well," Claus said running his normal hand through his head. "His fever has peaked to a high, which means he'll learns a new PSI move, or..." He guestured uselessly, but we all got the meaning. Ninten could die.

This is all so _stupid._ It wasn't fair that Ninten was dying! It wasn't fair that he got to learn PSI, and it most certainly wasn't okay that we were stuck in this situation to begin with. Tears filled my eyes, and Paula rubbed my back. She's a sweetheart and I would've fallen apart without her.

"It'll be okay Ness." Paula smiled, and I grit my teeth.

"I know, it's just... I'm just scared for him."

Paula laughed lightly. "The great and powerful Ness? Scared?"

"Shut up." I said, but there was no venom in my voice.

"Ninten will be fine, he's tough and there's Oreos in the kitchen. There's no way he'll miss that."

I smiled. "Yeah, you're right. Ninten won't die if there are Oreos around."

"Ah," Claus said, vicariously pressing buttons while glancing up to a screen. "You might be wrong about that."

"What?" Ana gasped, breaking her prayer. I felt light headed because Ninten is dying he's dying _right now and there's nothing I can do-_

 _ **Ninten learned Forth Dimension Slip!**_

A bright light filled the room, and I stumbled back into Lucas. Covering my eyes, the white light still infiltrated my vision and it took a few moments to realize that it was gone and people were talking.

Cracking open my eyes, I took in my surroundings. Ana was sobbing, Paula was staring at Ninten's bed, and so was Claus, with a small grin on his face.

Ninten wasn't on the table anymore, and a small tear in the _air_ swirling with stars and the galaxy was were Ninten once was. I stepped forwards, memorized, and it closed with a sucking noise. I ran my hands over the still warm bed, and turned to Claus with (I'm sure) a comical look on my face.

"Good news," Claus said. "Ninten learned PSI, and he'll live!"

"Where's Ninten?" I said, words tumbling out of my mouth.

"Bad news," Claus said. "I have no idea where Ninten is, and no way to track him."

Great. Out of the frying pan and into the fire.

_._._

 **Hello hello! I've started work, which means updates will be super slow. The next one I can guarantee won't come until late April/early May. Then it's exam season, then I'm off at summer camp, so unless I don't get that job this story** ** _WILL_** **be on** **hiatus** **from** ** _JULY-AUGUST._** **not that it makes much of a difference, I'm so slow at updating that I'll just be like normal.**

 **Thank you to everyone who reviewed, and caught my spelling/grammar mistakes! There are quite a few (haha whoops) so you guys all helping me out is a super help**!

 **Love you all!**

 **Corie**


	5. Eleutheromania

**Eleutheromania**

 _(n.) an intense and irresistible desire for freedom._

_._._

 ** _NINTEN'S P.O.V_**

_._._

Today has been kinda confusing. I woke up with my lamp attacking me, plus the cafeteria. I then passed out and had to be carried by a 200 year old cyborg who had the body of a fifteen year old kid. To top it off, I got a serious fever and suddenly ended up at the base of Mount Itoi, _very_ far away from Onett, which means I am probably _very_ far away from everyone one else, meaning I am very, _v_ _ _ery__ screwed.

But hey, at least I'm not in school.

Wiping the seat of my cotton pajamas off- I do not recall being changed into them- I placed my hands on my hips and glanced around.

"Yup," I said to myself. "That is most definitely Mount Itoi."

Let's put this in perspective. Let's assume that whoever may be listening to my monologue lives near a mountain. Let's assume they live in a rather small town. It's not a _widely_ known town, but it has a very small font on a province map, but no one knows it unless you live near or in this town. This is Onett. The mountain Onett is near is not, in fact, Mount Itoi, but Giants Step.

Then where is Itoi? You internal monologue listeners may ask. Itoi is in the middle of a deep, vast forest, a seven hour drive from the nearest town. And that town is seven hours away from Onett. Which means, you see, I am currently fourteen hours away from home, I am very weak and still slightly feverish, and dressed in cotton pajamas in the dead of the night.

Shout out to me.

How I got here is a mystery- I remember Ness and Paula leaning over me, then a tingly, exhausting but powerful feeling. There was a moment where I felt like I was floating, and tada- I wound up here. Looking around, I sighed.

Mount Itoi isn't really that normal. There's this huge cave in it, and there's a rumor that a huge grave is up there, watching over the mountain. But because of that grave, weird animals started to show up. Like chickens mashed with snakes. I call them Slitherhens (their kinda cute), but everyone else calls them 'a curse from God' and 'the devil's work' and so on.

It also wasn't that normal since I just showed up here randomly.

Picking up a random stick, I swung it around a couple times before starting off. It seemed that I wasn't that far from the top, and the cool cave. A sense of excitement filled me at the thought of going to the cave. How cool would it be to see the rumored grave?

Starting off in a quick walk, I began to daydream about what this cave would look like. Maybe it would be filled with crystals and sparkling! Or maybe it would be super creepy and dark and zombies would be there because it _is_ a gravesite. I shivered. Gross, zombies.

I was so focused on not stepping on Slitherhens and daydreaming about what I would find, that I hadn't realized I made it to the cave entrance. Shivering and raising my stick, I took a shaky step inside. When nothing jumped out at me, I stepped completely into the cave. Walking forwards, I actually felt pretty safe. Like nothing could harm me. Letting my stick drop to my side, I continued forwards, humming a lullaby my Mom had learned from my great-grandma.

Of course, I probably shouldn't have let my guard down, nor been staring off into space. That's my fault. A slitherhen latching onto my ankle with it's _teeth_ and gourging my leg _wasn't_ my fault. I had a split second to think this before screaming and trying to pry it off.

Grabbing it by the tail seemed to do nothing but cause me more pain, as the dumb animal refused to let go. In a panicked state, I yanked it as hard as I could, and the Slitherhen did come off, along with a good chunk of my calf.

Stumbling, I attempted to run away, my leg screaming with every step. The darn Slitherhen followed, pecking at my already torn apart leg. Picking up my stick, I swung it. With a satisfactory _**SMAAAAAAASH**_ it hit the wall and became still.

I stumbled backwards, hitting a large stone. I lent against it, sliding to the floor, trying to get a grip on my breathing before I had an asthma attack. It was the last thing I needed at the moment. Glancing at my leg, I wish I hadn't. It wasn't anything extraordinarily gruesome, but it sure was a nasty looking injury and it _hurt._

" _Ninten_..."

Wiping the sweat and tears off my face, I almost missed the voice that began to talk. When I did hear it, I shoved myself up off the rock, holding my stick, ready for a fight.

" _Welcome..._ "

Confused with the origin of the voice, I responded.

"Um, hello?"

" _I always believed that you would find your way here_..."

"Okay? Who are you?" I was shaking, and my leg was bleeding really, really badly. I had probably lost more blood then was healthy, and not gonna lie, I felt kinda dizzy.

" _I am the XX stone..._ "

Ah. That makes even less sense. I shifted my weight, and gasped in pain.

" _You are injured, let me heal you..._ "

A bright light filled the room, and I covered my eyes, dropping my trusted stick. The pain in my leg disappeared, and when the light went away, it was healed. My mouth dropped open as I poked and prodded at what used to be a hunk of torn flesh. It was completely healed, and there wasn't a scar on the pale completion. My leg looked perfectly fine. I felt better to, and my fever had gone away.

"T-thank you!" I stuttered, shocked at the event that had just taken place.

Silence followed. I picked up my stick, and noticed the rock had two large X's on it- obviously what it was named after. It stood about ten meters above me, and I rested my hand on the stone giant, feeling oddly drawn to it. But that's totally not creepy.

A small thought flickered in my mind, and I began to hum my great-grandmother's lullaby. I stopped at the end. To my surprise, the rock began to softly glow, and to put it in the best wording, sang the last chords. My mom could never remember it, and so I had never learnt it besides the faint memories I had of my grandmother singing it. A smile coming across my face, I sang after the rock, happy to learn the last bit.

" _Your Great-Grandmother Maria's love was scattered, scattered in the form of melodies... Sing and remember what I have passed onto you..._ "

I'm not much of a musical guy, and honestly, my singing is terrible. But when the light of the XX stone filled the room again, the desire to sing was overwhelming. The gentle hum of the stone and the sense of love that came in the full song was amazing, and I'm not going to lie, I cried a bit. I missed home, and I missed my mom and her singing.

Wiping the tears off my face for the second time that day, I rested my forhead against the XX stone, and whispered a gentle thank you.

" _Ninten... You must return to your friends... You will not return home for a long time... Be brave and remember this place and song... Go to where you are needed._ "

"I don't know how." I admitted. "I'm not sure how I ended up here in the first place."

" _Nothing is without reason... Remember the love inside you, and you will know the way..._ "

I took a step back, and removed my hand from the XX stone. A sense of wonder filled me, and I remembered how I got here. Raising my hand, I closed my eyes and concentrated on the energy inside my heart. Slashing my hand through the air, I thought of Ness and Ana and Paula and Claus and Lucas and how I wanted to be there _so_ bad. I shouted the first words that came to mind and-

 ** _Ninten used Fourth Dimension Slip!_**

A weightless feeling surrounded me, and I looked around. I seemed to be in an endless galaxy, and soft lights surrounded me. They looked like wisps, and I reached out to touch one that was close to me. It didn't feel like anything, and I clutched my hand to my chest, confused. It was then that I noticed a small, well, tear in the galaxy. It was far below my feet, and shone with a bright, white light. I felt shirt ride up my torso, and noticed that I was being pulled down towards the small gap.

"Oh dear," I said, as I tugged my shirt down. I seemed to be moving faster and faster, gravity becoming stronger the closer I got to the opening. Panicked, I swung my legs and arms around uselessly, trying to try to slow my fall.

"No, no no, no no no no, nononononononono-" My useless chanting became nothing as a sudden increase of gravity stole my breath. I covered my eyes, anxiety filling my gut as I braced for a very hurt filled crash. Instead, I was met with strong arms stopping me from crashing into the ground. Blinking and adjusting my eyes to the sudden light of the room, I saw it was Claus who was holding me. I also felt very, very sick. Ness raced up to me, and pulled me into a tight hug.

"Ninten!" A little shocked at Ness' unusual behavior, I patted him on the back, willing my nausea to go away. "Ninten, we were so worried!"

Ness pushed himself at an arm's distance, surveying me. The sudden movement made me sicker then before. A small warning signal went off in my brain that something about Ness wasn't normal, but I patted his arm, and stumbled away, looking for a garbage can because _I_ didn't feel normal.

"Ninten?" Ness asked, concerned. "What are you looking for?"

"Trash can." I murmured.

Lucas, who had been standing behind Ness, pointed to one within reach. "It's there."

"Thanks." I said, and promptly puked into it. I hadn't eaten since lunch the previous day, so I mostly had painful dry heaves. Claus patted my back awkwardly. After a moment of gasping, I wiped my mouth while feeling rather disgusted with myself, and smiled weakly at Claus. Great. This is humiliating. I was rather shocked that Claus didn't make fun of me are glared, but instead handed me a small toffee.

"Your PP is low, and that is what's making you sick." Claus explained. I just nodded and sat down, not wanting to think anymore, and popped the candy in my mouth even though I didn't want to eat _anything_.

"Thanks." I whispered, leaning my head against the cool wall.

Ness sat beside me, and Lucas beside him. He gave Lucas a small glance, and Lucas raised an eyebrow. Sighing, Ness turned back around to face me.

"Ninten, I know you're sick, but what happened? Where were you?" Concern had flooded Ness's voice.

Oh man, were they in for a long story. I patted beside me as a gesture for Claus to sit down.

"It's a wild story." I said.

"The girls are sleeping, we have time." Ness responded, crossing his arms. He was certainly stubborn when he wanted to be.

"Okay then." I said, and cracked my knuckles. "Well, I woke up at Itoi Mountain..."

_._._

 **Here is a shorter chapter! I wanted something fun and fast but still relevant, so I decided to do a chapter from Ninten's POV. This won't happen very often unless it's important to the plot. I originally had a huge part for the Girl's in this story, but my friend offered a better idea later in the story that makes the girls pretty useless at this point, but I have a plan for them next chapter! Thank you sweethearts for all your reviews! Also, I'd like to remind you this is an AU. That's why Ninten learnt fourth dimension slip before lifeup! He also has like, 15 pp, and 4th-D slip takes 12pp, so he's really low on pp in this chapter. I like picking on Ninten ;) At this point, Ness is the only one who hasn't learned PSI...**

 **-Corie**


	6. Syzygy

**Syzygy**

 _(n.) an alignment of celestial bodies_

 __._.__

 _(NESS' POV)_

The moment that Ninten flew into Claus' arms from a random portal I knew something was wrong. It wasn't in the way Ninten carried himself, in the way he clutched onto Claus, and looked so pale, or the way he was sick. Something nagged at me at the back of my mind that something was very, _very_ wrong _._

But it didn't have anything to do with Ninten, it had to do with me. Instead of being happy that my best friend that I've known for years got magical powers, I was extraordinarily angry. I had never felt this type of jealously before in my life.

I'm not a super jealous guy. I like to think I'm pretty carefree dude, with long happy teenage years to fill. However, the rage filling up inside me was _not_ very carefree and teenage-like. However, in the past two and a half days my emotions had been a complete train wreck, and I've been rude to everyone, something that I'm not usually, no matter how I act in school.

"Ness?" My name suddenly broke my train of thought. Ninten looked at with a worried expression, still hugging that trash can like he was a three year old hugging his stuffed bear. "You okay? You've zoned out almost my whole story."

Oh, I hadn't realized Ninten was speaking.

"I'm fine, thanks Ninten." I wasn't fine, I felt sick from anger and wanted to scream. "I'm just a little confused, I need to take a walk and clear my head."

"You look flustered-" Ninten started weakly.

"I'm fine, Ninten." I said.

"But Ness, you seem very angry-"

"I'm fine, Ken." Dropping Ninten's real name was a poor move. More then anything else, Ninten hated the name his father gave to him, and preferred to go by his nickname.

"Don't call me that name." Ninten hissed, physically withdrawing as if a word could hurt him.

"Then don't bother me." I snapped back. I didn't get to see Ninten's expression, and a wave of guilt poured over me, as I could _feel_ how hurt he was.

Without waiting for another word, I stood up to leave. Luckily, the doors to the ship were near by. Unluckily, I forgot we were technically prisoners. When the light on the floor turned a brilliant shade of red and guns pointed everywhere around my face, I blanked and panicked.

"Alert. Alert. Prisoner 1-9-9-4-0-1 trying to escape. Repeat, prisoner 1-9-9-4-0-1 trying to-"

"Override 2006420, prisoner is with Commander."

Claus stepped into the main hallway smoothly, his hands casually in his pockets.

"Provide code for user 2-0-0-6-4-2-0 to release prisoner 1-9-9-4-0-1." The automated voice grated against my wars.

"Code 2-0-1-4." Claus continued to walk with ease, pausing beside me, waiting for the ships computer system to acknowledge that I wasn't, in fact, trying to escape.

"Code accepted. Continue."

The mechanical doors slip open, and daylight filtered through the main doors.

"...thanks." I muttered. Claus didn't respond, but kept walking. I followed, realizing I had no idea where I was. The silence was almost overbearing as Claus continued to lead me farther and farther away from the ship.

"Where are you taking me?" I asked, annoyance filtering through my tone. "Taking me to be prisoner elsewhere?"

"I'm taking you to a place where you can angst in peace." Claus snapped back.

Too frustrated to answer, I let his comment slide. I followed him for another five minutes without talking, getting slightly more frustrated at Claus every step of the way. My anger towards Ninten wasn't justified, but my anger to Claus was.

We were quite a ways away from the old ship when Claus stopped and stared down a large rock wall.

"A wall?" I said. "Claus, it has about as much emotion as you."

"Not the wall, you idiot," Claus huffed. "Behind the hanging ivy!"

To my left, I noticed the ivy Claus spoke of. It was thick, but I noticed a tunnel behind it.

"It used to be the train tracks leading to Tazmily." Claus said with a monotone voice. He neither seemed to be angry or sad, just stating a fact. I wondered if he even cared about anything from his pre-commander days except for Lucas.

"Tazmily... Isn't it a ghost town now?"

I vaguely remembered Tazmily used to be the main city in Eagleland, before the water rapidly retreated and more cities were built. Tazmily was then a ghost town, and eventually fell apart. I was surprised I remembered this, and then I remembered that technically, because of what Lucas and Claus said about different dimensions and all that jazz, Tazmily probably was never part of Eageland in the first place.

"I'd rather it be a ghost town then what it was in my world." Claus said, and pushed aside the ivy before he started climbing into the tunnel. I hurried after him.

I wanted to ask what happened to his town, but then I remembered I was angry at him, so I didn't. We walked a few feet before coming to a clearing and in the middle of it, sat a large, steaming hot spring.

Wait, a hot spring in the middle of the woods?

"This," said Claus "is the only hot spring in all of Onett. No one knows about it except for and Lucas and I. I'll be back in a hour, be dressed by then. You can scream and be as angry as you want here, you won't be heard."

"Do you speak from experiance?" I sneered.

"I don't get angry often," Claus said, his mechanical eye flashing. "But Lucas does."

With that haunting sentence, Claus left. Looking at the hot springs, I took in the scenery around me. Thick woods surrounded the cove, and smooth stone surrounded the hot spring. Sighing to myself, I stripped to my boxers and tested my toe in the water. It was pleasantly warm. I figured a relaxing soak was really what I needed. I hadn't had a shower in two days, and I'm sure my face still had some blood on it from my nosebleed yesterday.

For once in this whole adventure, I was thankful for Claus. I dunked my head under the water, watching the sunlight become disturbed by the water. Closing my eyes, I just let the warmth surround me. It was like a giant hug, and I could feel myself becoming less angry. I popped my head out of the water, and heard the trees rustle to my right. Adrenaline kicked in and I tensed, even though Claus said no one knew this hot spring. Still, the idea of someone walking in on the hot spring, located several kilometres away from any town, spooked me out.

"Hello?" I called out, knowing there would be no answer.

"H-hello?" A voice hesitantly answered back.

I froze. Someone had _answered back._

"Who's there?" I demanded.

"The name is Pokey!" I had never head such a name. Who is Pokey? "Who are you?"

"I'm Ness. You can come out, I'm not going to bite."

"Tell me how you found this place first." Pokey demanded. He had a slight New Pork accent, and I placed it to behind a large pine tree.

"A friend." I answered honestly. "How did _you_ find this place?"

"I walked." Pokey responded. "I've been coming here for years. Who is your friend? I didn't know anyone else knew about this place."

"His name is-" I hesitated. Should I really tell this kid about Claus when he wouldn't show me his face? "Well, I'll tell you if you show yourself. It isn't very nice to tell all when you can't see who you're talking too."

"That is fair." The mysterious Porkey poked his head around the tree, and shuffled out.

He looked around my age, 16. He was a little chubby and wore a pair of jeans along with a loose, white tee. Pokey's blond hair was swept nicely to the side, and he had a small backpack on. I was very glad I was covered by steamy water, seeing how I was wearing little-to-nothing.

"Hello." Pokey said again.

"Hello." I said back.

Pokey sat on the side of the hot spring, beside me. "Do you mind if I come in? I'm wearing swim trunks under my jeans."

"Go for it." I said. I was still in a little bit of shock that Pokey had come here. Claus said _no_ one knew of this place. How had Pokey just walked?

"So," I stared, as Pokey slipped into the water beside me. "You walked here?"

"Y

up." Pokey said. "I didn't feel like staying at home a couple years ago, and I just started walking. I ended up here, and I come here almost every day now."

"Oh!" I said. How had this kid not run into Claus or Lucas?

"Who's your friend that brought you here?" Pokey asked.

"Uh," I tried to strike up a fake name for Claus that I would remeber. His hair kind-of looked like fire, and fuel and flint started fires...

"Ness?" I snapped back into the conversation. "What is your friends name."

"Well, it's hard to translate into English," I lied. "The closest translation would be Flint."

"He's foreign?" Pokey asked.

"Sure." I responded. That wasn't a lie; Lucas and Claus _were_ both from a different dimension.

"Hey, that's pretty cool," Pokey said. "I had a friend that was foreign, but that was a long time ago."

"What was his name?" I asked, curious about this strange boy.

"Well, ironically it also was Ness."

I frowned. Ness wasn't a popular name.

"Where was he from?"

"Eagleland. We lived in Snowwood at the time."

"He ended up going home?" I asked.

"No," Pokey looked at me with a cocked head, and shivers suddenly racked me. "Ness died."

Oh.

That wasn't nice.

"W-What happened?" I said.

"He drowned." Pokey said, eerily calm.

Not the best topic at a hot spring. I had a sudden and strong feeling that I should leave.

"Well, it's been nice chatting with you, Pokey. I have to go, Flint is waiting for me." I said, wanting to get out of here as fast as possible.

"Wait!" Pokey grabbed my arm, and I slid back into the pool.

"Let go, please." I said, fear creeping into my gut. Why was I so scared of a kid my age?

"One last thing," Pokey said.

"Let go, I have to go." I repeated.

"Do you want to be with Giygas?"

What? Who is Giygas, and what does that even mean?

"No. I don't."

"That's okay, thanks for volunteering anyways." Pokey suddenly said. I ripped my arm from Pokey's grip, but whatever strength this kid had was insane.

With a quick twist of his wrist, my arm was twisted behind me in a painful second. I cried out, and Pokey grabbed the back of my hair, smashing my head into the stone wall. Disoriented and weak with pain, I found myself underwater. This was going to fast, what was happening? I tried to grasp the rock wall beside me, but hand pushed at my neck, keeping me at the bottom of the hot springs. It was to warm, and I was choking for breath. Squirming against the grip, I lost all my air when Pokey, or whoever this kid _really_ was, slammed his fist into my diaphragm. Black spots swarmed my vision, and I found myself not really caring. I'm certain I already inhaled enough water to do some serious damage.

Besides, the warm water felt like a blanket. A cuddily, warm fleece blanket.

It felt so nice, I could fall asleep...

Pokey's hand are gone from my neck...

Whos arms are removing me from the water...? It doesn't matter...

I'm so tired...

I'm so... tired...

...tired...

 _N...e...ss..._

 _...Ness..._

 _...We meet... again..._

 _...Ness..._

 _...You and I... We can work together now..._

 _...I'm so happy..._

 _...i'M... sO... hAp...pY ...nE...S...s..._

 __._.__

Claus removes his hands from my chest, stopping compressions and rolls me over, and I take a shallow breath, my eyes fluttering open.

_._._

 **Hello, hello everyone! It's been a long time. This chapter we really get to see some action, and finally the plot is in motion! I have been busy Lifeguarding all summer, along with teaching swimming lesson at our city's outdoor pool. I had an interview with the indoor pool, so wish me luck that I'll get the job!**

 **Also sorry this chapter is so short, if it wasn't this short it would've dragged on forever.**

 **Next chapter, which will hopefully come up in the next two weeks, depending on school and work, will explain why 'Pokey' was so different then Pokey from Mother 2!**

 **Keep being awesome!**

 **Corie**


	7. Alamort

**Alamort**

 _(adj.) half dead of exhaustion_

 __._.__

 _(NESS' POV)_

 __._.__

As a kid, and even now, I hadn't always taken so much time to pay attention to detail. When I was younger, I didn't bother looking at the way the light filtered through the leaves in Sunshine Forest, because chasing my sister in a game of tag was so much more important. I didn't notice the tear tracks down Ninten's face when he showed up at my house early that morning. I didn't notice the small scars littering Lucas' hands, or the large one that pierced Claus' eyebrow. I didn't notice the newly healed skin along Ninten's leg when he flew through his portal and claimed PSI for his own. I didn't notice how I had never seen Pokey's eyes, and how his word's slithered in the air like snakes.

When time is slowed down in a dramatic event, you tend to notice things better. I noticed in a painfully slow way how bubbles escaped from my mouth, and how the hand that held my neck was the talon of a monster, not a boy. I noticed the black creeping into my vision as water sunk into my lungs, sloshing in my lungs as I found it harder and harder to keep conscious.

I then felt nothing at all.

I didn't feel the talons on my throat be blasted away, nor the mechanical whirling as I was torn from the hot spring. I didn't feel the crushing pressure against my chest, slamming over and over, and didn't hear Claus' frantic breathing as he tried to push air into my waterlogged lungs. I didn't sense Claus' healing PSI slowly evaporating the water clinging to my chest, and I didn't notice the way the ginger had given a relived gasp and a breathless smile when I gasped a breath of my own.

To be fair, I was rather distracted by the pain.

My ribs groaned and creaked with every breath I took, and I was heaving for air. Water tickled the inside of my throat and I only saw red. Parts of Claus' reassuring sentences fluttered into my hearing, but I barely comprehended anything. Heavy, painful coughs filled the air for a number of minutes, my ribs screaming with every breath. When I finally got control of my breathing, I found myself rolled on my side, my hands clawing into the gravel like I was holding onto a lifeline.

I promptly decided that I'd rather be dead, because everything _hurt._

"Ness?" Claus asked, worried by my sudden silence. I groaned in response. "Can you sit up for me?"

"No." I whispered. The gravel was more comfortable then idea of sitting up, and my chest was already in pain from the idea of it.

"Ness, I need you to sit up." Claus said, and he gently rolled me over onto my back. I glared at him in response.

"It hurts; I don't want to sit up." I muttered, my breaths wheezing. My chest felt heavy, and I just wanted to sleep.

"Ness, I'm not taking no for an answer."

"Yes, you are." I said pathetically.

"I'm leaving then. See you." Claus stood, and I grabbed his pant leg, causing him to freeze.

"..." I paused, not sure what I was going to say. What do you say to the guy you low-key hated, but just saved your life?

"Do you need help sitting up?" Claus asked. I could hear his arm whirling and readjusting. I nodded my head, and he knelt at my side again.

Very slowly (and painfully) Claus helped me sit up. With such little exercise, I was already wheezing, and I felt an awful tickle in my throat.

"Take a deep breath for me." Claus said.

I did what he said, and promptly an explosion of coughs overtook my already shaking frame.

Stars floating in front of my eyes, Claus held me up as I grasped at my chest, my coughs sounding wet and heavy.

"We need to get you to the ship." Claus murmured. "Lucas knows healing PSI better than I do."

I was too busy coughing to respond. More of Claus' healing PSI filled the air, and I felt my coughs subdue as my throat was soothed.

"There's still water in your lungs." Claus stated. "Grab your shirt and pants, let's go."

I struggled to put on my shirt, and Claus ended up putting it on for me. We left my pants behind. Claus promptly put me into a piggy-back position, and I wasn't going to complain

Pain and water sloshed in my chest, and I was so exhausted it was hard to keep my eyes open. I wheezed with every breath, and Claus began to ask me mindless questions to keep me awake.

"Ness," Claus said, breaking the easy questions he had been asking. "Why have you been so frustrated? Ninten and the girls say you're not usually like this."

I stayed quiet.

"I'm not sure." I answered honestly.

"Why did you call Ninten 'Ken'?" Claus asked.

"That's his name." I whispered softly, coughing slightly.

"Why did he get upset?" Claus asked, his voice soft.

Even in my sluggish consciousness, I knew it probably wasn't my place to answer. I grunted when Claus stumbled for a moment.

"It's, um," I paused, thinking of a good answer. "His dad is never around, and when he is, he expects Ninten to be this p-perfect clone of him."

I could see the ship we stayed in, and my body sagged in relief. I was so exhausted.

"Why?" Claus asked.

"I dunno. Why do you care?"

"That doesn't matter." Claus said sharply. If I cared to notice, Claus's face seemed to have a blush.

I didn't bother to reply. Breathing was difficult. I was tired. The doors to the ship opened.

"Claus, there you are!" There was Lucas' sweet voice. "Who's on your back?"

"Ness." I could feel the ginger's chest vibrate when he spoke.

"What?" I could hear Lucas run to our side. I opened my eyes to look at him, and saw a blur of blond.

"Ness, can you hear me?"

I wheezed in response.

"What happened? Actually, no- first let's go to the medical room. Tell me on the way."

"Claus? Lucas?" I heard Paula's voice from the distance. I did not want her to see me now! This was totally unmanly, not to mention painful. "Did you find Ness?"

"Yes." Claus said. "Can you start supper? We're gonna be busy."

"Uh, sure? But why? What happened?"

"Ness drowned."

"What?!" Paula yelled. Darn, now she was running over here.

"He's fine. Am I right, Ness?" Claus said. I shot a lazy thumbs up, too tired to move any more.

Her footsteps stopped. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah," said Lucas, catching onto the lie. "We're just going to make sure there's no extra water in his lungs."

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

"No." Claus said quickly. I felt light headed, and very sick.

"Thank you, though." Lucas added.

Everything was spinning and was way to loud.

Lucas' healing PSI started to stitch together my ribs, and I passed out, exhausted.

When I woke up, I was in a white, rather hospital looking room I had never seen. My ribs felt infinitely better, and I was no longer struggling to breathe. Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I saw Lucas asleep at my side. A couple empty cups of coffee sat on the side table, and I vaguely wondered how long he'd been here.

I debated waking him, when a small alarm from his watch went off. He bolted awake, and I jumped at the sudden movement. Lucas stared at me with half awake eyes, blinking heavily.

"Good morning." I said. My throat didn't hurt at all. I was pleasantly surprised that I didn't have morning voice either.

"Morning." Lucas said groggily. He had dark circles under his eyes, which were briefly covered as he rubbed the sleep from them. He paused, and then looked at me in amazement, suddenly more awake.

"Good morning! You're awake?"

"That's why I said good morning." I replied.

"How are you feeling?" Lucas asked cautiously.

"Really good!" I said cheerfully. "My ribs and throats feel great for someone who was just drowned."

Lucas looked a little guilty.

"Ah, that's because you've have a constant flow of my healing PSI."

I looked at him with concern. Can he undo my healing?

"And healing PSI drains me-" Lucas guestured to the coffee. "-and now that you're awake I can cut the PSI off. Is that okay?"

"No." I said. "I rather not hurt, but go for it." He looked much more exhausted then I felt, and I was sure it wouldn't last for long.

"Alright, I'm cutting it off now-"

"Wait." Claus stood at the doorway. "I have a question first."

"Good morning." I mumbled.

"Who drowned you?"

"What makes you think someone drowned me?"

"The ring of bruises around your neck."

"Oh." I hadn't noticed they were there.

"Who did it?" Claus asked again.

"A kid named Pokey. He said it was in the name of Gigas? Giygas? Gigue? Something like that. He went totally mental."

The memory of Pokey's hands around my neck was much to recent to be comfortable.

"G-Giygas?" I had never seen anyone pale as fast as Lucas. The dark circles under his eyes stood out like blood on a white floor. Claus let out a shaky sigh, seeming to try and catch his breath.

"Ness," Claus started, speaking very slowly. "Have you noticed a change in psychic behaviour since you woke up?"

"No." I got frustrated that psychic powers were at discussion again. Just because I wasn't an esper doesn't mean they had to run it in _all the time._

"I see." Claus said. "Then I'm sorry for this."

"What?"

Lightning rippled at Claus' mechanical fingertips, and panic settled at my gut. What was he doing? With a quick movement of his arm, the lightning was sent- right at me. Lucas gave a shout of surprise as I threw my hands up in front of my face, closing my eyes and bracing myself for the shocking result.

A busting, tingling sensation filled my body, mostly focused in my chest. Is this what being electrocuted felt like? It didn't feel painful at all really. It felt kind of nice. I was kind of pissed that Claus would throw a joke lighting at me. I lowered my arms, ready to yell at him, only to see Claus and Lucas staring at me, both equally as shocked.

"Oh," Lucas finally said. "Oh, this is not good."

"What?" I said. Raising a shaking arm, Lucas let off a small blast of PSI. It hit some sort of red barrier, and fizzled out.

"Why are you so shocked?" I asked. "It's your barrier."

"No," Lucas said. "Ness, this is your doing. Whatever Giygas did to you..."

Claus picked up where Lucas left off.

"Whatever Giygas did to you, it gave you psychic powers when you should've never had them. You're, somehow, an Esper."

The barrier shattered.

-.-.-.-

 **Heeeeeey long time no see am I right. Sorry for the crappy chapter. I didn't get the job at the Indoor pool, but I am working as a volunteer there. I am also working as many hours as possible to buy a Cintiq, so I've been jam packed busy. I've been writing in my spare time, which is little to none. I already have part of the next chapter written. I'm trying to speed this fic up a lot, but my writing has become increasingly worse as I kind of loose focus on where I want to go. I also started a new ask blog, but there is nothin on there.**

 **www. .com is my main blog, however!**

 **See you in a bit my dudes.**

 **Corie**


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